Journeyman's Row

         Discovering tomorrow's future starts by discussing yesterday & today.

***  October 11, 2016  -  June 30, 2021  ***

Author's Note:  The following poetry contains as much fact-checked information
                         as possible.  This was to ensure the documented events are in
                         the most accurate chronological order possible.

“2020” ©

Poem written by: Jim R. Irion

America, my country, 'tis in misery;

       swallowed by viral hysteria and anarchy,

What were once jokes about perfect eyesight,

       devolved into strife too much for one life.

It began with an ongoing partisan impeachment inquiry,

       Nancy Pelosi delayed the Articles till mid-January,

When President Trump was acquitted in a ‘historic vote’,

       "He's impeached forever…," Pelosi made sure to gloat.

A new Coronavirus was emerging as a notable dilemma,

       So, Trump sought restricted travel to and from China,

Joe Biden tweeted his objection on social media,

       "We need to lead the way with science… not xenophobia."

February 24th, the Stock Market crashed worse since 2008,

       Senators Burr, Inhofe, Loeffler, and Feinstein were safe,

COVID-19, Wuhan virus; many debated what name to say,

       No one was prepared for March, April, or May…

March came in like a lion; out went toilet paper,

       Panic buying left fewer necessities to shop for,

The avalanche of panic-buying memes was peculiar to behold,

       Seeing the elderly unable to buy enough groceries was cold!

Daycares, bars, restaurants, retail, and much more,

       businesses large and small were ordered to close their doors,

High schools and colleges shut down across the nation,

       Thousands of aspiring seniors would miss their graduations.

Countless current students had to rely on homeschooling,

       Many dutiful parents found this rightfully challenging,

How do you explain to a child what a pandemic is?

       Hats off to all the parents who had to handle this.

One governor after another mandated draconian lockdowns,

       Test-positive patients were being sent to nursing homes,

There was an exception with Pennsylvania's Dr. Rachel Levine,

       She removed her 95-year-old mother from what type of facility?

Some governors declared religious services were non-essential,

       Many safely worshipped providing guidance that was valuable,

Lowes and Walmart stayed open.  Small businesses had to stay closed,

       Planned Parenthood abortions were they restricted? No.

Preventive medical care and mental health facilities,

       which millions of people use for quality of life needs,

turned patients away and switched to teleconferences,

       The increased isolation lead to more tragic deaths.

March 27th, just for Knox County Tennessee,

       in 48 hours their suicide rate topped COVID-19,

Those who needed or benefited from in-person treatments,

       had to suffer without them; some succumbed to their symptoms.

Frontline workers had to keep providing essential services,

       Many feared the risk to their families, especially any kids,

Mechanics, paramedics, cashiers, nurses, janitors, and truck drivers,

       Gov. Wolf's former cabinet company in Pennsylvania got a waiver.

On April Fools' Day, there was a tragic announcement,

       "Probably the youngest person ever to die of COVID

has died here in Connecticut." Gov. Lamont said,

       Dr. James Gill hadn't even determined cause of death!

Reports began to emerge of a troubling discrepancy,

       Unrelated causes of death were counted as COVID-19,

"… is assumed to have caused…," the CDC did permit,

       We will never truly know what the death toll actually is.

Unemployment at its highest since the Great Depression,

       Pelosi blocked renewing the program for Paycheck Protection,

Stimulus bills were passed with big government provisions,

       While low-income families struggled to feed their children.

Then came late mandatory mask-wearing when out in public,

       Governors pushed this CDC guideline despite its flawed logic,

In Chelsea, Massachusetts, there was a Coronavirus case study,

       "We found that 31.5% of those individuals had antibodies."

South Dakota Gov. Noem bravely chose to stay the course,

       despite opposition that her state lockdown should be enforced,

Numerous peaceful lockdown protests were organized nationwide,

       In spite of defending civil rights they were heavily criticized.

April 23rd, there was disturbing news from Queens in New York City,

       The NY Post's article echoed Hitler's Nazi Germany,

Body bags had been sent with each test-positive patient,

       They were not even dead from the Coronavirus yet!

As governors reopened their states using incremental stages,

       news coverage overwhelmed viewers with daily statistics,

Stores attempted to enforce mask-wearing like a law,

       Some people were bullied with the mentality of a mob.

Gov. Newsome threatened closure of California beaches,

       Did he close Orange County's for being conservatives?

In early May, barber shops and salons were both under siege,

       Ask salon owner Shelley Luther and barber Karl Manke.

Luther opened her salon early to feed her husband and kids,

       She served two days in jail for a Texas judge's arrogance,

Michigan Gov. Whitmer's attacks on Manke were relentless,

       Fined, forced to close, Dana Nessel suspended his license.

"This is really quite an exciting time…," Pelosi did say,

       Politicians left and right kept getting their generous pay,

One commercial after another, "We're in this together."

       Forgetting Pelosi's chocolate ice cream in April was absurd.

Governors followed CDC guidelines that were contradictory,

       Despite the CDC having downgraded COVID death rate quietly,

Why were the liberal news media caught not paying attention?

       SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk wrote, "Good question."

Dan Horowitz pointed out patients sent to U.S. nursing homes,

       pulled up the Case Fatality Rate, the data clearly showed,

"An astounding 62 percent of all COVID-19 deaths

       were in the six states confirmed to have done this."

Kayleigh McEnany did White House press briefings with conviction,

       From his basement, Biden's handlers managed his communication,

Fears of contact tracing being used as spying were a mess,

       Apple's mobile software update only made matters worse.

Charlamagne tha God did an interview with nominee Joe Biden,

       but Biden had a difficult time hiding his racism,

"If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me…

       … then you ain't black." Biden replied—ignorantly.

The following week, CNN redefined Biden's interview,

       What they didn't know, on May 25th, murder was in the news,

A Minneapolis cop killed George Floyd over modest forgery,

       with a white knee to his neck for all in the world to see.

African American residents protested police brutality,

       Within two days, a wave of looting began shamelessly,

White ANTIFA agitators were spotted and told to leave,

       Mayor Frey allowed the city to be consumed by chaos and grief.

A local firefighter, Korboi Balla, spent his life savings,

       to open his own sports bar which was delayed by COVID-19,

Violent rioters burned it down and other essential businesses,

       hurting Stephanie Wilford and other poor black residents.

St. Paul, Los Angeles, Denver, Louisville, New York City,

       Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C.,

A surge of looting and violence erupted across the country,

       What happened to the COVID-19 narrative was a mystery.

If black lives mattered, because they unquestionably should,

       what about former officers David Dorn or Patrick Underwood?

Killed by rioters and looters who shot the men dead,

       The liberal news media largely ignored them instead.

Minnesota Gov. Walz was quick to blame "White supremacists",

       while CNN and MSNBC blamed Russians for the riots,

The Southern Poverty Law Center disagreed and disputed,

       "I have not seen any clear evidence…," Howard Graves said.

Well-equipped ANTIFA members assaulted people on live TV,

       Prior ANTIFA manuals advised which cops were "friendly LEs",

Therefore, law enforcement helping them is possible now too,

       If crooked cops are killing blacks it is crucial to prove.

As the rioting continued strange items were being found,

       hidden in communities shortly before violence broke out,

Glass bottles, lead pipes, pallets of construction bricks,

       Are baseball bats used to peacefully protest with?

Historic St. John's Episcopal Church in D.C. was set on fire,

       Since James Madison, every president attended services there,

1st black Civil War regiment monument was defaced by rioters,

       How can such a racist act validate George Floyd supporters?

Conservative political analyst Tucker Carlson had enough,

       In a June 1st evening monologue, he had much to discuss,

Entitled, "Our leaders dither as our cities burn,"

       he ripped news media and politicians with intense concern.

Tony Dungy offered guidance to comfort those that suffered,

       "We need to listen. And we need to care about each other.

Even those we might disagree with," before quoting the Bible,

       Dungy's heartfelt words were wise, calm, and humble.

Media figures returned to freaking out over social distance,

       after self-righteously supporting violent social justice,

North Carolina Gov. Cooper revived forgotten COVID-19 lies,

       A full-scale Trump convention unlikely due to CDC guidelines.

Minneapolis City Council sought to disband its police force,

       Seattle's "CHAZ" was established with socialism at its source,

If this was not enough, progressive cancel culture returned,

       Elmer Fudd lost his gun. Gone With The Wind was purged.

Political, corporate, and media elites won't stop their agenda,

       United we stand or divided we fall; We the people of America,

What shocks me the most about the chaos during all of this,

       The year 2020 is only half over with…

Official YouTube video recording

"2020"

Official #WalkAway Campaign Facebook Group

My WalkWith Story

 

This is a list of the countries I have reached with my poem:

• All 50 US States*, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Republic of Singapore,
            Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand,
            Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, South Africa, Nigeria,
            Namibia, Uganda, Spain, the UK, Czech Republic, Norway,
            Luxembourg, Italy, Ukraine, Greece, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
            & Bangladesh — every major continent around the world.

© 2020 Jim R. Irion.

My poem is protected under Fair Use copyright law.

Formal publishers must contact me first.